24th May 1941: HMS Hood sunk HMS Hood sunk The 'Mighty Hood' was the pride of the Royal Navy The Royal Navy had been following the Bismarck and the Prince Eugen almost since they had left Norway . The relatively old battlecruiser HMS Hood and the very new battleship HMS Prince of Wales intercepted them as they emerged from the gap between Greenland and Iceland. The Battle of the Denmark Strait began with the first sighting at 0535, the Hood opened fire at 0553. It was all over in a matter of minutes. The crew of HMS Hood that had celebrated the New Year together now faced mortal danger. A remarkable account of the action was written by Ted Briggs who had a grandstand view of the action, being posted on the Compass Platform of HMS Hood alongside Admiral Holland, the commander of the British force: The menacing thunder of our guns snapped the tension. All my traces of anxiety and fright left me momentarily.

I was riveted with fascination as I counted off the seconds for our shells to land -20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25…then tiny spouts of water, two extremely close to the pinpoints on the horizon. Suddenly a report from the spotting-top made Holland realize he had blundered. ‘We’re shooting at the wrong ship. The Bismarck’s on the right, not the left.’ Our shells had been falling near the Prinz Eugen, which many hours earlier had begun to lead the German raiding force when the Bismarck’s forward radar failed. Holland seemed hardly perturbed and in the same monotonous voice said: ‘Shift target to the right.’ Within the next two minutes the Hood’s foremost turrets managed to ram in six salvoes each at the Bismarck. I counted each time, expecting to see a hit registered. The first salvo pockmarked the sea around her, and the third appeared to spark off a dull glow. I thought we had got in the first blow, but I was wrong.

Suddenly it intrigued me to see four star-like golden flashes, with red centres, spangle along the side of the Bismarck. But I had no time to admire them. Those first pretty pyrotechnics were four fifteen-inch shells coming our way, and deep, clammy, numbing fear returned. That express train, which I had last heard when the French fired on us at Oran, was increasing in crescendo. It passed overhead. Where it landed I was not sure. My eyes were on the two ships rapidly becoming more visible on the starboard bow. They were still winking at us threateningly. But the next salvo was not just a threat. Not far from our starboard beam there were two, no three, no four high splashes of foam, tinted with an erupting dirty brown fringe. Then I was flung off my feet. My ears were ringing as if I had been in the striking-chamber of Big Ben. I picked myself up, thinking I had made a complete fool of myself, but everyone else on the compass platform was also scrambling to his feet. ‘Tiny’ Gregson walked almost sedately out to the starboard wing of the platform to find out what had happened.

‘We’ve been hit at the base of the mainmast, sir, and we’re on fire,’ he reported, almost as if we were on manoeuvres. Then came a crazy cacophony of wild cries of ‘Fire’ through the voice-pipes and telephones. On the amidships boat deck a fierce blaze flared. This was punctuated by loud explosions. The torpedo officer reported by phone: ‘The four-inch ready-use ammunition is exploding.’ I could hear the UP rockets going up, just as they had roared off accidentally in Gibraltar a year earlier. Fear gripped my intestines again as agonized screams of the wounded and dying emitted from the voice-pipes. The screeching turned my blood almost to ice. Yet strangely I also began to feel anger at the enemy for the first time. ‘Who the hell do they think they are, hitting our super ship?’ I thought ridiculously.’ As the AA shells continued to rocket around, Captain Kerr ordered the four-inch gun crews to take shelter and the fire and damage control parties to keep away from the area until all the ready-use ammunition had been expended. But the bursting projectiles were making a charnel-house of positions above the upper deck.

The screams of the maimed kept up a strident chorus through the voice-pipes and from the flag deck. I was certain I heard my’ oppo’ Ron Bell shouting for help. These agonizing moments did not appear to trouble Holland, Kerr or Gregson. Their binoculars were still focused on the enemy. I wondered how they could be so detached, with chaos and havoc around them. This, I supposed, was the calmness of command, and some of it transferred to me like a form of mental telepathy. Only a couple of minutes later the Hood blew up in a spectacular explosion. Ted Briggs was one of only three survivors out of the entire crew of 1,418. His full account can be read at the HMS Hood Association , which has amassed an extraordinary collection of material relating to the Hood and the action in the Denmark Straight. The famous image of the Bismarck firing on Hood, the battle took place in daylight, the darkness of the image is due to its exposure. The subsequent Board of Enquiry examined in great detail the exact cause of the explosion.

The German view of events was obtained when the Royal Navy subsequently interviewed the survivors of the Bismarck: Kapitänleutnant Burkhardt von Müllenheim-Rechberg, 3rd Gunnery Officer in “Bismarck,” stated during interrogation, that no officer recognised “Hood” at first, and did not do so until “Hood” turned to port, disclosing the long, low sweep of her decks. They had not bargained with coming into contact with “Hood” and for a time they were extremely anxious about the outcome. The Germans, however, fired with great accuracy, and “Norfolk,” who was in a position to witness the duel, states that the first salvo was 100 yards short, but that the second salvo straddled and hit. The third salvo again straddled and hit and a fire broke out in “Hood’s” port battery, which spread rapidly to the mainmast. At 0600, just after “Hood” and “Prince of Wales” had turned together to open “A” arcs, “Hood” was straddled again.

There was a huge explosion between the after funnel and the mainmast and the ship sank in three or four minutes. The Prince of Wales was also hit, a shell killing everyone on the bridge apart from the Captain and she soon broke off the action. But the Bismarck had not escaped unscathed. One of the very last photographs of Bismarck, seen from Prince Eugen, after she had been hit by the Hood (but see comments below about who hit Bismarck). There was significant flooding, which slowed her down, and also contaminated fuel, reducing her range. { 8 comments… read them below or add one } ArmyDicked December 14, 2015 at 7:56 am HMS Hood was a ‘JUTLAND Baby’ forty per cent built at the time of Jutland 1916. JUTLAND CHANGED EVERYTHING!!! Prior to Jutland 1916, all British BattleShips were built to Russo-Japanese War standards (Pre-Drednaught ballistics) were combating ships were to blast away at one’s BELT ARMOUR until wrecked else sunk.

Jutland introduced PLUNGING FIRE and, by 1918, Time Delayed Armour Piercing shells were added to the mix. HMS HOOD should have been scrapped in suit but the decision was made to complete her. She missed WWI entirely but was a ‘Pre-War’ museum piece not fit for combat in WWI. From 1919-1939, HMS Hood was on constant duty of ‘showing the flag’ else manning embargos in Spain. To say Hood wasn’t fit for Fight was an understatement. All of her wiring & plumbing were WWI vintage as was her fire Direction Equipment. She had an additional 3,000 tons of steel put on her to combat plunging fire but even the THIRD Decking wasn’t enough. Conversely, the HMS Prince of Wales was too new to fight—actually going to combat stations with civilian technicians attending to her. Naturally, her idiot her X turrent (4×15″ guns) broke down mechanically and her other turrent was put out of action.

On Paper, The HMS Hood should have made mince meat out of a simple BB and a CA (Hvy Cruiser) BUT old Hood was dealing with THE BEST 1941 BattleShip afloat, the Bismarck. ADM Holland tried to close the range and turn horizontal with Bismarck to counter-act Plunging fire as he had been briefed by the Admirality. Unfortunate for him, only he made the turn, not PoW and a shell either plunged into the 15′ (381mm) magazine else had skipped along the water and went into Hood between her Armoured Belt and her Decking. Strangely, there was no KABOOM as in HMS Barham—a flaming bolt went upward from her 4″ Ready Mades and her back broke in two (not a torpedo magazine exploding). Final Thing: ADM Lutzen (Sick) should have abandoned the break out to Brest Harbour and gone after the crippled & virtually defenseless Prince of Wales but he was too fearful to do so. Why? Remember the Geisenau and Sharnhorse (Sic) BattleCrusiers and their destruction of the British Air Craft Carrier?

They were ordered only to raid commerce and their skippers were relieved of command for risking damage to their ships—stupid but true!!! Colin Ralphson March 31, 2015 at 7:49 pm i read all the witness reports to the second enquiry. The Hood was old lying too deep in the water and technically uncared for. She should never have been at sea. But such is war. Briggs memory fails him. It would seem she was hit several times. The fore turret, the conning tower where two hundred sheltering sailers were killed, the nest on the top of the fore master was struck, showering body parts onto those below. The hit on the quarter deck was from the German cruiser. The hits that caused the explosion were from Bismark. One went into the 4 inch magazine another into the y turret. What part the 4 inch guns were plan to take is unclear. Too small to harm the enemy but enough ammunition to set of the main gun magazines. The bottom of the ship was blown out. Given the terrible state of the engines they probably exploded too.

Sadly the Hood was shot to pieces and was doomed the moment her admiral drove her head long into the path of the German ships. With two capital ships and two heavy cruisers a divided attack would have been a better bet like the cruiser admiral who defeated the Graf Sprae earlier in the war. Terrible to report but a savage vengeance for years of idleness and mismanagement by the government. But not as savage as the loss of Glorious which is almost forgotten. With a similar loss of life – over 1200 souls and for nothing. So sad. But we ought now to face down the insulting lie that it was a lucky shot from plunging fire. 16 degrees is hardly plunging. Fishers original concept of a fast lightly armed capital ship was insane – which cannot be denied as 4 of them just blew to pieces taking nearly 5000 sailors with them.

The Bismarck sinks the Hood - May 24, 1941 - HISTORY.com The Bismarck sinks the Hood Share this: The Bismarck sinks the Hood Author The Bismarck sinks the Hood URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1941, Germany’s largest battleship, the Bismarck, sinks the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood. The Bismarck was the most modern of Germany’s battleships, a prize coveted by other nation’s navies, even while still in the blueprint stage (Hitler handed over a copy of its blueprints to Joseph Stalin as a concession during the days of the Hitler-Stalin neutrality pact). The HMS Hood, originally launched in 1918, was Britain’s largest battle cruiser (41,200 tons)-but also capable of achieving the relatively fast speed of 31 knots. The two met in the North Atlantic, northeast of Iceland, where two British cruisers had tracked down the Bismarck.

Commanded by Admiral Gunther Lutjens, commander in chief of the German Fleet, the Bismarck sunk the Hood, resulting in the death of 1,500 of its crew; only three Brits survived. During the engagement, the Bismarck‘s fuel tank was damaged. Lutjens tried to make for the French coast, but was sighted again only three days later. Torpedoed to the point of incapacity, the Bismarck was finally sunk by a ring of British war ships. Admiral Lutjens was one of the 2,300 German casualties. 1943 Auschwitz gets a new doctor: “the Angel of Death” On this day in 1943, the extermination camp at Auschwitz, Poland, receives a new doctor, 32-year-old Josef Mengele, a man who will earn the nickname “the Angel of Death.” Born March 16, 1911, in Bavaria, Mengele studied philosophy under Alfred Rosenberg, whose racial theories highly influenced him.

In 1934, already a member of the Nazi Party, he joined the research staff of the Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene. Upon arriving at Auschwitz, and eager to advance his medical career by publishing “groundbreaking” work, he began experimenting on live Jewish prisoners. In the guise of medical “treatment,” he injected, or ordered others to inject, thousands of inmates with everything from petrol to chloroform. He also had a penchant for studying twins, whom he used to dissect. Mengele managed to escape imprisonment after the war, first by working as a farm stableman in Bavaria, then by making his way to South America. He became a citizen of Paraguay in 1959. He later moved to Brazil, where he met up with another former Nazi party member, Wolfgang Gerhard. In 1985, a multinational team of forensic experts traveled to Brazil in search of Mengele. They determined that a man named Gerhard, but believed to be Mengele, had died of a stroke while swimming in 1979. Dental records later confirmed that Mengele had, at some point, assumed Gerhard’s identity, and was in fact the stroke victim.

A fictional account of Josef Mengele’s life after the war was depicted in the film Boys from Brazil, with Mengele portrayed by Gregory Peck. Related Videos HMS Hood (51) - Battlecruiser - History, Specs and Pictures - Navy Warships and Submarines View All Images (10) HMS Hood (51) Battlecruiser (1920) HMS Hood was lost to action against the fabled KMS Bismarck battleship on May 24th, 1941, in the Battle of Denmark Strait. Staff Writer (Updated: 8/27/2013): HMS Hood stood as the pride and joy of the British Royal Navy for over two decades. She was constructed towards the end of World War 1, at the height of the global arms race on the world waters, and traveled the world during the inter-war years only to be placed back into action in World War 2. Despite her speed and firepower, she was ill-equipped to handle the latest guns of the German Navy and age had begun to take its toll on her structure.

Hood was lost at sea after tangling with the mighty German battleship Bismarck during the Battle of the Denmark Strait on May 24th, 1941. The British public proudly referred to their vessel as the "Mighty Hood", a ship like no other and the most powerful and largest vessel of her time. She fought under the motto of "Ventis Secundis" ("With Favorable Winds") and was fielded under Pennant Number "51". HMS Hood VS the Mackensen HMS Hood was conceived of as the lead ship in her Admiral-class of warships to number four in all, being specifically devised to combat the upcoming German battlecruiser Mackensen then under construction. Mackensen was also to lead a four-strong class of battlecruisers to include the Graf Spee, Prinz Eitel Friedrich and the Furst Bismarck. However, precedent within the German Navy at the time held that production focus on the dreaded U-Boats instead. As such, the Mackensen and her kind languished through to the end of the war unfinished - none of her class were completed and she became the final battlecruiser to be ordered for Germany.

What was left of all four was quickly dismantled following the dismantling of Germany herself per the Versailles Treaty. The Battle of Jutland Exposes a Weakness The Battle of Jutland exposed some frailty within the designs of British battlecruisers to the point that three such vessels were lost in the battle. The battle began on May 31st, 1916, and ceased on June 1st. Fighting was concentrated in the North Sea near the Denmark coast and failed to prove a victor between the Royal Navy of the British Empire and the Kaiserliche Marine of the German Empire. By the end of the conflict, the Battle of Jutland was recorded as the single largest naval battle of the First World War - 28 Royal Navy battleships faced off against 16 Kaiserliche Marine battleships along with several battlecruisers, destroyers and lesser ships in attendance. By the end of it all, 6,094 Royal Navy sailors were dead, joining the 2,551 German sailors on the other side. Hundreds were wounded or captured in the fracas.

Key to the German side was the loss of three British battlecruisers (lost to subsequent internal cordite explosions at her magazines) and eight destroyers to the loss of just one German battlecruiser. Righting Past Wrongs As a result, design of HMS Hood was revised to incorporated some 5,000 tons of additional armor (making up over a quarter of her end-product displacement) and bracing to help protect her vital spots from more powerful main guns. Her main belt was 12-inches thick while her middle belt was given 7-inches of armor. Her upper belt topped at 5-inches with the exception of 4-inch protection held aft. Plating along the main deck came about very late in the stages of the Hood's construction. Her turret forward facings were given up to 15-inches of armor while their sides sported up to 12-inches. Their tops were limited to just 5-inches of protection. Anti-torpedo protection was addressed through the then-conventional practice of "torpedo bulges" along her lower hull - this involving an empty hull space supported further by steel reinforcement.

During testing, it was found that the Hood would have little in the way of proper armor protection for the next series of gun calibers and projectiles in development. Additionally, her armor design would prove highly susceptible to "plunging fire", that is, incoming enemy fire from above as opposed to the sides. Nevertheless, the Hood was allowed to exist for there was no going back on her construction at this point. Going in the Wrong Direction While this armor address proved a novel attempt, the end-product proved a rather hasty revision that never fully satisfied all-around protection for the ship - not to mention making her a heavier girl than originally intended. She sported a three-deck layout which assumed the top deck would contain and retard any incoming projectile's explosion. However, by the end of World War 1, delayed-fuse projectiles were becoming the norm, rendering the three deck theory more or less useless. Delayed-fuse projectiles could penetrate upper decks and still explode below deck, closer to the vital components of any ship and, ultimately, sink or cripple her. As such, the Hood sat lower in the water than anticipated and would always sail forth with a good deal of stress placed against her understructure.

Despite the flaws, the ship was pushed into the water and evaluated to satisfaction. Birth of the Hood HMS Hood was ordered, along with three other sister battlecruisers, as part of the Admiral-class under the "Emergency War Programme" during World War 1. Along with Hood, there was to be HMS Anson, HMS Howe and HMS Rodney. However, construction of these three vessels was soon stopped in March of 1917 though work on the Hood was allowed to continue. It was seen that any near-future work by the Germans on their own battlecruisers was severely in doubt with the changing nature of the war. HMS Hood was ordered on April 7th, 1916, and laid down on September 1st later that year in Clydebank, Scotland by the John Brown & Company shipbuilder. She was launched to sea on August 22nd, 1918, and formally commissioned on May 15th, 1920. She carried the same of Samuel Hood, the First Viscount Hood remembered for his service in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars and, himself, serving as a mentor to Horatio Nelson of the Napoleonic Wars fame.

The widow of Rear-Admiral Sir Horace Hood - great-grandson to Lord Hood - was the sponsoring party. Captain Wilfred Tomkinson, CB, was awarded the helm as her first commander and HMS Hood became the flagship to the Atlantic Fleet Battle Cruiser Squadron of the British Empire. Her first voyage saw her journey to Scandinavia in 1920 and then on to Brazil and ultimately the West Indies. What Happened on May 24th This Day in History 1844 , 1856 , 1883 , 1930 , 1934 , 1939 , 1941 , 1946 , 1959 , 1961 , 1964 , 1968 , 1976 , 1977 , 1978 , 1983 , 1995 , 2001 , 2006 , 2007 , 2008 , 2010 , 2012 , 2013 , Born This Day , 1977 U.S.A.

Nixon David Frost Interview 24th May 1977 : Nixon has been interviewed on TV chat shows by David Frost and has defended the right that the President is within his rights to order phone tapping and burglaries if it is in the interests of public safety and has justified the use of these in the Watergate Scandal . 1941 World War II German Battleship Bismarck Sinks HMS Hood 24th May 1941 : The German battleship Bismarck sank the HMS Hood with with the loss of more than 1,400 lives after a shell exploded in the armory in a battle of the giants of the sea during the Battle of the Denmark Strait. 1856 U.S.A. The Pottawatomie Massacre 24th May : John Brown and his Free State volunteers murdered five men that were settled on the Pottawatomie Creek in southeastern Kansas. These were members of the pro-slavery Law and Order Party, but not themselves slave owners in 1856 . 1844 U.S.A. Morse's first electronic telegram 24th May 1844 : The U.S.

government had requested a line be built between Baltimore and Washington, and it sent the first Morse electronic telegram in 1844 1883 U.S.A. Brooklyn Bridge 24th May 1883 : The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan over the East River opens to traffic. In 1883 it was the largest suspension bridge in the world and had taken 13 years to complete. 1930 Australia Amy Johnson 24th May 1930 : Amy Johnson lands her Gypsy Moth plane at Darwin in Australia having completed the first solo flight from England by a woman. 1934 U.S.A. Month Long Drought in Midwest 24th May 1934 : It is hoped some relief may occur from the month long drought in the Midwest with a small amount of rain forecast by the Weather Bureau in northern parts of the states affected but concerns over crop failure and many farms going bankrupt continue, it is also predicted the cost of most foods could double or treble in these already difficult times. Many farms are already seeing fertile land reduced to dust and know this years crops are doomed . 1934 U.S.A.

Auto Lite Plant in Toledo Ohio 24th May 1934 : Fighting has broken out at the Auto Lite Plant in Toledo Ohio between non union members protected by the National Guard and union members with rocks being thrown by Union Members and the National Guard mounting machine guns to keep control of the plant. Gas Grenades were used to disperse jeering crowds who refused to disperse. 1939 U.S.A. Submarine Squalus 24th May 1939 : The submarine Squalus sunk in the Atlantic with the loss of many lives and the worst part of this tragedy was how the 5 that were saved only did so by sacrificing their 26 crew mates by closing the Bulk Head door to the battery compartment to stop the rest of the submarine flooding. This must have been one the most difficult decisions for any sub mariner and these men who were lucky enough to survive . 1946 U.S.A. Rail Strike 24th May 1946 : The crippled rail network caused by the rail strike has crippled America , the impact is felt in food, fuel and other commodities, and effectively splits the country into small communities reliant on local produce and services.

What the strike has hi lighted is how much a longer strike could ruin the economy . 1959 U.S.A. Economy Grows 24th May 1959 : The economy is continuing to grow with more jobs and higher incomes across all sectors and Americans have never been better off a report also says Americans are saving more than at any time in recent history. 1961 U.S.A. "Freedom Riders" 24th May 1961 : Two buses carrying 27 'Freedom Riders' 25 Negroes and two whites were arrested by city police officers in Jackson Mississippi and charged with disobeying an officer and breach of peace. 1964 Peru Peru vs Argentina Soccer Riot 24th May 1964 : Following the referee’s decision to disallow a goal in the last few minutes in a qualifier for the 1964 Olympics in a soccer match between Peru and Argentina the Peru fans riot and the resulting panic and lack of crowd control causes stampedes in which 300 fans are crushed and killed.

1968 France Strikes and possible revolution 24th May 1968 : The President of France, Charles de Gaulle, issues an ultimatum to unions and students who have brought the country to a standstill during three weeks of violent demonstrations over his reforms, saying the French people will have a choice during the coming referendum "Back Me or Sack Me". Many consider that a revolution could take place and tanks and the military are sent in to the worst trouble spots. The referendum was called off, but he called an election for the end of June to give the people of France the choice of Vote For Him and the Reform that was needed or vote against him. The election gave De Gaulle's party a huge majority as public opinion appeared to turn against the strikers 1976 U.S.A. Concorde 24th May 1976 : Air France from Paris and British Airways from London simultaneously began Concorde service to Dulles Airport, Washington cutting the travel time from 7 hours to 3 1/2 hours.

1978 England Princess Margaret Divorced 24th May 1978: Princess Margaret the sister of Queen Elizabeth II of England, is divorced after 18 years of marriage from her husband, Earl Snowdon. 1995 U.S.A. Heidi Fleiss The Hollywood Madam 24th May 1995 : Heidi Fleiss who ran a high class prostitution operation in Hollywood was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $1,500 for running a call girl ring that catered to the rich and famous. 2001 Israel Dance Floor Collapse 24th May 2001 : A dance floor has collapsed in Jerusalem leaving at least 20 people dead and hundreds more injured at a wedding party. Thailand 2006 Thailand Major Flooding in Parts of Thailand 24th May, 2006 : Over one hundred people went missing and many were found dead after major flooding occurred in the Northern part of Thailand. The flooding came at the beginning of the rainy season with three consecutive days of rain and caused massive property damage as well as displacing thousands of people and stranding others. The Uttaradit region was affected worst by the flooding.

Russia 2007 Russia Mine Blast Kills Many 24th May, 2007 : A methane explosion in a Russian mine killed thirty-six workers and injured six in the Yubileynaya coal mine in Siberia. Over one hundred and fifty workers were successfully rescued after the blast, but two others were still missing. Belgium 2008 Belgium Former Democratic Republic of Congo Leader Arrested in Belgium 24th May, 2008 : Jean-Pierre Bemba, the former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo was arrested for war crimes near Brussels in Belgium. He had been exiled from the DR of Congo after being accused of treason and he was also accused of committing war crimes against the Central African Republic in 2002 , as well as other offences. Bemba continually denied the charges. South Korea 2010 South Korea South Korea Suspends Trade with North Korea 24th May, 2010 : North and South Korea had suspended trade with each other after North Korea was blamed for sinking a South Korean warship. The South Korean government demanded an apology from the North before the freeze would be lifted.

The trade suspension added further tension to the already volatile situation between the two countries. Norway 2012 Norway Public Sector Workers Strike in Norway 24th May, 2012 : Tens of thousands of state workers in Norway have gone on strike, the first of such a walk-out since 1984 . Cities like Tromsoe, Bergen, Trondheim and Oslo were affected by the strike after unions demanded pay rises and improvements in working conditions. Ecuador 2013 Ecuador Ecuadorian President Starts Third Term 24th May, 2013 : Rafael Correa was sworn in as the president of Ecuador for an unprecedented third term as leader of the country. Correa, a left wing leader, is thought of as highly popular in the country and had first taken power in 2007. He stated this would be his last term and he would be in power until 2017.

Born This Day In History May 24th Celebrating Birthday's Today How the Bismarck Sank HMS Hood - DSP Factual Specials How the Bismarck Sank HMS Hood When the “Mighty” Hood met the German battleship Bismarck on May 24th 1941, its end was shockingly swift. The pride of the British Navy was hit at least twice, causing an enormous explosion. Hood sank in minutes and only three people on board survived. 1,415 were killed: the largest loss of life ever suffered on a British warship. For decades, no-one was able to discover why the Hood sank so quickly. Naval Boards of Inquiry failed to explain the tragedy, and a 2001 expedition was largely inconclusive. Now, two of the world’s leading shipwreck detectives have returned to crack the puzzle. This film follows Deep Water Search and Recovery Expert David Mearns and Marine Archaeologist Innes McCartney through three dives in perilous conditions as they piece together the evidence. It also highlights a recent effort sponsored by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G.

Allen, who volunteered the use of his expedition yacht, M/Y Octopus, in an attempt to recover the Hood’s bell as a memorial to the ship and her crew. This film tells the story of an epic battle, and pays tribute to the men who lost their lives on board. Broadcaster: 24th May 1941 | In the Dark Posted in History with tags 24th May 1941 , Bismarck , HMS Hood , Sinking on May 24, 2011 by telescoper I just realised that today is a solemn anniversary which surprisingly hasn’t been marked in the media. On this day 70 years ago, i.e. 24th May 1941, the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Hood was sunk by the German Battleship Bismarck in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Of a ship’s complement of 1418 only three survived the sinking of HMS Hood; it was one of the greatest maritime disasters of the Second World War. I’m not one for dwelling excessively on the past, but I think it’s a shame this event has not been remembered.

We owe a lot to people like the 1415 who gave their lives that day, so I’m glad I remembered in time to pay my respects. May 24th marks the 75 years anniversary of the sinking of the HMS Hood off the coast of Iceland | Icelandmag Who we are Culture May 24th marks the 75 years anniversary of the sinking of the HMS Hood off the coast of Iceland Tweet The Mighty Hood One of the largest and most powerful battleships of WWII was sunk off the coast of West Iceland on May 24 1941. Photo/Wikimedia under a Creative Commons license May 24th marks the 75 anniversary of one of sinking of the HMS Hood, the flagship of the Royal Navy, during one of the most dramatic naval battles of WWII. The battle, which took place off the west coast of Iceland, involved two of the most powerful battleships of the war, the HMS Hood and the German battleship Bismarck. One of the most important naval battles of WWII Known as the Battle of the Denmark Strait the battle between the HMS Hood and Battleship Bismarck, and their escort vessels, is one of the most historic naval battles of WWII.

The battle took place on May 24 1941 in the strait between Iceland and Greenland, when the Royal Navy caught up with the pride of the German Navy as it was attempting to break out into the Atlantic. The thunder of the battle could be heard in Reykjavík. The HMS Hood which was built in 1916-1920, was the largest ship in the Royal Navy. It was 47,430 tons and 262 meters (860 feet) long, with a crew of 1,418 men when it was sunk. Only three sailors were rescued. The pride of the Royal Navy The HMS Hood was the only Admiral-class battlecruiser ever built for the Royal Navy. Although she commanded enormous prestige as one the largest and most power battleships of its time, known as “The Mighty Hood”, HMS Hood had design flaws which limited its effectiveness when WWII broke out. During the earliest phases of the war she patrolled the waters between Iceland and the Faeroe Islands, hunting for German blockade runners and raiders. Hood made several visits to Iceland after the British occupied Iceland on May 10 1940.

Hood anchored several times in Hvalfjörður fjord, north of Reykjavík, the fjord having been turned into a major naval base in support of British operations in the North Atlantic. After having participated in the destruction of the French fleet in June 1940, after the surrender of France, the Hood returned to Icelandic waters in May 1941. A failed attempt to break into the Atlantic On May 20 Bismarck, the pride of the German Navy, entered the Atlantic along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. The objective of the German capital ships was to break out into the Atlantic, where they would attempt to block allied shipping between North America and the UK. As the ships were leaving the Baltic they were spotted by the Swedish navy which alerted the British Admiralty which immediately launched a search for the German ships. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were sighted in the Denmark strait, west of Iceland on the evening of May 23. Although the Hood was over 20 yeas old and no match for the 8 month old Bismarck, it was chosen for the intercept because of its speed.

Along with its escort, the battlecruiser Prince of Wales, it also outgunned Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. The battle of the Denmark Strait At 5:52 AM in the morning of May 24 Hood made contact with the Germans 250 nautical miles (460 km/285 m) west of Reykjanes peninsula. The thunder of the battle which ensued could be heard all the way to Reykjavík. However, the confrontation lasted only six minutes, as a shell from Bismarck hit Hood, which sank within three minutes. Only three crewmembers were rescued, while 1,415 men perished. The German capital ships now concentrated their fire on The Prince of Wales, which was hit seven times by the German ships, but managed to escape, withdrawing from the battle at 6:10. Between 6:19 and 6:25 AM the heavy cruiser Suffolk attempted to fire at the German ships, but was out of range. The more than 30 minutes of gunfire could be heard in Reykjavík where residents woke up to the thunder.

A German victory turned into a humiliating defeat The sinking of the Hood was met with elation by the crews of the two German battleships, but the Bismarck had suffered several hits which had caused serious damage. Crucially, she was leaking fuel oil, which made its trailing easier, as well as reducing its capacity to operate against Allied shipping in the Atlantic. After the battle of the Denmark Strait the Bismarck sailed on south into the Atlantic. To make necessary repairs she had to reach port in France. However, pursued by the entire Royal Navy the Bismarck had little hope of making it to safety. The Royal Navy shadowed Bismarck for two days before aircraft from the navy and air force managed to strike it with torpedoes on the morning of May 27. The crew scuttled the Bismarck west off the coast of France. Read more: The mission of the Octopus revealed: The recovery of HMS Hood‘s bell The wreck of HMS hood was discovered in 2001 allowing persistent questions about exactly what had caused it to sink to be settled. Last summer the US billionaire and adventurer Paul Allen recovered the ship bell of the Hood.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the ordering and laying down of the HMS Hood, the 75th anniversary of its sinking and the 15 year anniversary of the discovery of the wreck. H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood - Crew Information: Memorials to Hood's Lost, H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour Updated 11-May-2015 These memorials are dedicated to those who died whilst building and serving aboard Hood. The memorials were assembled by blending official records with public casualty listings. Wherever possible, records were cross-referenced and/or supplemented with information from the database of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), Northeast War Memorials Project , FLEET-DNPERS, The National Archives (TNA), various Admiralty 104 series documents, Navy Lists, the H.M.S. Hood Association Archives and various family sources. It has also been supplemented with a great deal of in-depth information from other researchers, most notably Don Kindell, Mary Mckeown, Mary Mochan and the Director of Naval Personnel (Disclosure Cell), Navy Command HQ, to whom we are eternally grateful.

Crew Lost During the Sinking of Hood, 24th May 1941 Contained here are 1,415 individual memorial pages - one for each man confirmed lost when Hood sank during combat with the German battleship Bismarck in the Denmark Strait on 24th May 1941. These deaths constituted the Royal Navy's greatest single ship loss of the Second World War. You can also click below to view a single list of all names H.M.S. Hood Roll of Honour Database Their sacrifices were not in vain: Though they were lost, the action in the Denmark Strait did end Bismarck's sortie. Through their deaths, the resolve of the British Empire was restored with a vengeance. They served as tragic reminders as to why the war was being fought and why it had to be won. The names can be accessed by clicking on the links at right (alphabetical by surname or a listing of all names).

Men Lost Prior to the Sinking (Sept 1916 - May 1941) The men lost in the sinking are not the only ones who died whilst serving in Hood: It is known that nearly 40 men, possibly more, died whilst building or assigned to Hood between 1916 and her loss in May 1941. 1000+ images about Bismarck Battleship. on Pinterest | King george, Hamburg and Most powerful Forward 24 May 41: In the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the HMS PRINCE OF WALES and HMS HOOD slug it out with the German battleships BISMARCK and PRINZ EUGEN. The HMS HOOD, pride of the Royal Navy, explodes and is sunk, taking with her 1,416 men of a crew of 1,419.

#WWII See More Extended Information Forces of Valor "Battle of the Denmark Strait" - German Kriegsmarine Battleship Bismarck and British Battlecruiser HMS Hood, May 24th, 1941 (1:700 Scale) "I will not let my ship be shot out from under my ass." - Captain Lindemann, commander of the German battleship, Bismarck The German battleship Bismarck is one of the most famous warships of the Second World War. The lead ship of her class, she was named after the 19th-century German chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck's fame came from the Battle of the Denmark Strait in May 1941 (in which the battlecruiser HMS Hood, flagship and pride of the Royal Navy, was sunk), from Churchill's subsequent order to "Sink the Bismarck", and from the relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy that ended with her loss only three days later. Design of the ship started in the early 1930s, following on from Germany's development of the Deutschland class cruisers and the Gneisenau class "battlecruisers".

Construction of the second French Dunkerque class battleship made redesign necessary, and Bismarck's displacement was increased to 41,700 tons. Officially, however, her tonnage was 35,000 tons to suggest parity with ships built within the limits of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (1935) that allowed Germany to build up to five 35,000-ton battleships, the maximum displacement agreed by the major powers in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Fully laden, Bismarck and her sister-ship Tirpitz would each displace more than 50,000 tons. The prototype of the proposed battleships envisaged under Plan Z, Bismarck's keel was laid down at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg on July 1st, 1936. She was launched on February 14th, 1939 and commissioned on August 24th, 1940 with Kapitan zur See Ernst Lindemann in command.

This formidable ship, the largest warship then commissioned, was intended primarily as a commerce raider, having a broad beam for stability in the rough seas of the North Atlantic and fuel stores as large as those of battleships intended for operations in the Pacific Ocean. Still, with eight 15 inch main guns in four turrets, substantial welded-armour protection and designed for a top speed of not less than 29 knots (she actually achieved 30.1 knots in trials in the calmer waters of the Baltic, an impressive speed when set against any comparable British battleship), Bismarck was capable of engaging any enemy battleship on reasonably equal terms. Her range of weaponry could easily decimate any convoy she encountered. The plan was for Bismarck to break through into the spacious waters of the North Atlantic, where she could refuel from German tankers and remain undetected by British and American aircraft, submarines and ships, while attacking the convoys. HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy.

One of four Admiral-class battlecruisers ordered in mid-1916, her design - although drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction - still had serious limitations. For this reason she was the only ship of her class to be completed. She was named after the 18th-century Admiral Samuel Hood. Hood was involved in a number of flag-waving exercises between her commissioning in 1920 and the outbreak of war in 1939; these included training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and a circumnavigation of the globe with the Special Service Squadron in 1923 and 1924. She was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet following the outbreak of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, Hood was officially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet until she had to return to England in 1939 for an overhaul. At this point in her service, Hood's usefulness had deteriorated because of advances in naval gunnery. She was scheduled to undergo a major rebuild in 1941 to correct these issues, but the outbreak of World War II forced the ship into service without the upgrades.

When war with Germany was declared in September 1939, Hood was operating in the area around Iceland, and spent the next several months hunting between Iceland and the Norwegian Sea for German commerce raiders and blockade runners. After a brief overhaul to her engine plant, she sailed as the flagship of Force H, and participated in the destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir. Relieved as flagship of Force H, Hood was dispatched to Scapa Flow, and operated in the area as a convoy escort and later as a defence against a potential German invasion fleet. In May 1941, she and the battleship HMS Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept the German battleship Bismarck which was en route to attack convoys in the Atlantic. On May 24th, 1941, Hood was struck by several German shells early in the Battle of the Denmark Strait and exploded; the loss had a profound effect on the British. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the Royal Navy to "sink the Bismarck", and they fulfilled his command on May 26th-27th. The Royal Navy conducted two inquiries into the reasons for the ship's quick demise.

The first, held very quickly after the ship's loss, concluded that Hood's aft magazine had exploded after one of Bismarck's shells penetrated the ship's armour. A second inquiry was held after complaints were received that the first board had failed to consider alternative explanations, such as an explosion of the ship's torpedoes. While much more thorough than the first board, it concurred with the first board's conclusion. Despite the official explanation, some historians continued to believe that the torpedoes caused the ship's loss while others proposed an accidental explosion inside one of the ship's gun turrets that reached down into the magazine. Other historians have focused on the cause of the magazine explosion. The discovery of the ship's wreck in 2001 confirmed the conclusion of both boards, although the exact reason why the magazines detonated will forever be a mystery as that area of the ship was thoroughly destroyed in the explosion. Shown here is a 1:700 scale replica of the famed German battleship Bismarck and British battlecruiser HMS Hood. Sold Out! Dimensions:

Question: Which German battleship sank the HMS Hood on May 24th 1941?
Answer: The Bismarck